Tench Coxe, An Examination of the Constitution of the United States of America

Fall 1787Pamphlets 145--46

The United States guarantee to every state in the union a
separate republican form of government. From thence it
follows, that any man or body of men, however rich or
powerful, who shall make an alteration in the form of government
of any state, whereby the powers thereof shall be
attempted to be taken out of the hands of the people at
large, will stand guilty of high treason; or should a foreign
power seduce or over-awe the people of any state, so as to
cause them to vest in the families of any ambitious citizens
or foreigners the powers of hereditary governors, whether
as Kings or Nobles, that such investment of powers would
be void in itself, and every person attempting to execute
them would also be guilty of treason.